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Break free
"Break Free" is a song by American recording artist Ariana Grande featuring German musician and producer Zedd. It was the second single from Grande's sophomore studio album My Everything (2014). It premiered on July 2, 2014 on Total Ariana Live, MTV's revival of Total Request Live, and was released later that day. Musically, the song explores EDM and electropop genres, a musical departure for Grande, whose discography is primarily composed of pop and R&B. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's fourth top ten and third top five hit in the US. As of September 2014, the song has sold over one million copies in the United States, making it Grande's fourth single to do so. The music video reached 100 million views and became Grande's third Vevo-certified video on October 6th, 2014. The song participated for Luxembourg in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 31, contest held in Skopje, Macedonia. The song placed 4th, receiving a total of 151 points. Production "Break Free" was written by Savan Kotecha, Zedd and Max Martin and produced by the latter two. In a May 2014 interview during which he talked about "Break Free", Zedd spoke about wanting to collaborate with Grande after hearing her voice for the first time at a Universal showcase. He said, "I was backstage and I heard someone sing. And I didn't know who it was, and I just said 'I want to make a song with whoever is singing right now.' I didn't know who it was, and it turned out being her. And luckily, now there's a song!" Grande first spoke about collaborating on a song with Zedd in late April in an interview with Billboard. She described the song as "fantastic and super-experimental for me" and further stated, "I never thought I'd do an EDM song, but that was an eye-opening experience, and now all I want to do is dance."89 She later talked about the song at Wango Tango and shared that she wanted it to be the next single. Release On May 10, 2014, during an interview after her performance at Wango Tango, Grande revealed that she wanted "Break Free" to be her next single after "Problem". She said, "I did a song with Zedd, who I just met for the first time here, and I'm really excited about that song. I really want that to be the second single. My whole team is like, 'Oh it's too early to pick a new single,' but I'm really leaning towards that one. I love that song so much. He's fantastic and the song is really fun." Grande began dropping hints about her second single on social media throughout the month of June but did not confirm that it was her Zedd collaboration until June 21, at which point she also revealed the song's name on Twitter. To build hype, Grande started an online countdown for the ten days leading up to "Break Free's" release. On June 28, Grande uploaded a teaser video with a snippet of the song to her Instagram account. "Break Free" premiered on the one day revival of the MTV show Total Request Live in a half-hour special titled Total Ariana Live on July 2, 2014. It was made available for purchase as a digital download on iTunes a few hours after the TRL premiere. It reached the number one spot on the iTunes Sales Chart soon after its release. Critical reception "Break Free" received general acclaim from music critics upon its release. Carolyn Menyes from the Music Times wrote that the song is "awesome and perfect for the summer," "dance bliss," and compared the empowering message of the song to Destiny Child's old anthems. Rachel Sonis from Idolator gave the song a positive review calling it "the club anthem of the summer" and thought that Grande herself is "dipping her toes into exciting new waters for her upcoming record." Lucas Villa of AXS complimented her new direction as well, writing, "while some singers get lost in heavy electro-pop production, Grande emerges as a liberated dance floor diva." Larry Fitzmaurice from Pitchfork also liked the song praising both the production part of the song and the vocal saying that, "from the zippy opening synth line to the verse's insistent pounding, 'Break Free' certainly invites comparisons to Swedish pop mastermind Robyn; as ever, Grande brings her own skyscraping voice in top form, so vocally the comparisons don't stick." He compared the message of the song to Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone". Music video The music video was filmed from June 10–12, 2014. Having an intergalactic theme, Grande stated that the video was inspired by the 1968 science fiction film Barbarella, Star Wars, and space in general. The plot consists of Grande on fictional planet giving up her allegiance to an evil regime and freeing a group of prisoners from their cages. She is subsequently attacked by a giant robot and the planet's overlord. Her character succeeds in killing the villain, and the clip ends with Grande and the prisoners she rescued flying away in a spaceship. The song's producer Zedd makes an appearance. It was premiered on YouTube on August 12, 2014 an hour after its official release announcement. The music video is directed by Chris Marrs Piliero. It made its televised debut three days later on Disney Channel. Track listing *;Digital download #"Break Free" – 3:34 Weekly charts Lyrics If you want it, take it I should've said it before Tried to hide it, fake it I can't pretend anymore I only wanna die alive Never by the hands of a broken heart Don't wanna hear you lie tonight Now that I've become who I really are x2: This is the part when I say I don't want ya I'm stronger than I've been before This is the part when I break free 'Cause I can't resist it no more You were better, deeper I was under your spell Like a deadly fever, yeah, babe On the highway to hell, yeah I only wanna die alive Never by the hands of a broken heart Don't wanna hear you lie tonight Now that I've become who I really are x2: This is the part when I say I don't want ya I'm stronger than I've been before This is the part when I break free 'Cause I can't resist it no more No more, baby, ooh Thought on your body I came alive It was lethal It was fatal In my dreams it felt so right But I woke up every time Oh, baby x2: This is the part when I say I don't want ya I'm stronger than I've been before This is the part when I break free 'Cause I can't resist it no more Points awarded to Luxembourg 'Points awarded to Luxembourg (Semi-Final 2)' 'Points awarded to Luxembourg (Grand Final)' See also * Own Eurovision Song Contest 31 * Luxembourg Category:OESC songs of Luxembourg Category:OESC 31 songs Category:OESC 31 songs SF2 Category:OESC 31 songs Final